16th October: Lining up for the flu jab

Spent a while lining up for the swine flu vaccine this morning. This is now freely available to everyone in Australia. It reminded me of school days where we all had to move in single file through the nurses station with our sleeves rolled up. Jab, "ouch!" "Next!". The kids in front used to filter messages back down the line about the length of the needle - by the time the message reached me the needle was reported to be four foot long! Thankfully, the swine flu jab was painless. I met a young man in the waiting room who has an acquired brain injury, he overheard me talking to my colleague about Simon and said "I used to be like that". Two years on from a car accident he is on his feet, talking, and back at Uni studying science. I have arranged to meet up with him for a coffee next week, I love to hear these success stories.
Because of the flu line, I was a bit late for my meeting with a research student. He was very understanding, and seems to be making good progress despite juggling very many responsibilities. Off to rehab to meet Simon for lunch - he was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere and began to worry that he had absconded. He has a small amount of money and I wondered if he had managed to blag his way onto a bus. After about fifteen minutes he came rolling along the corridor, he had been in an unscheduled occupational therapy session. Phew!
Simon had exciting news. He has been fitted with a plastic back-slab for his right leg. This keeps the leg straight and supports his ankle when he is standing. With this he was able to use an exercise bike for the first time today. It is a special bike that you wheel the chair up to, then strap the feet onto the pedals. The left leg does the pedalling but of course has the effect of moving the right leg. Fantastic, and there was a visible reduction in the swelling in Simon's right leg just from a few minutes' workout. He is hoping to do a lot more of this.
Back to work to see another postgrad who is interested in doing some work with us. A nice guy and I think he will do a good job for us. Later ran into another postgrad that I taught last semester. On hearing about Simon, he said he and his mates would come to my house at any time to do any heavy, manual jobs - sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by the kindness of Flinders people.
Spent half an hour at a gathering of social science research students and supervisors. It was a good turnout, and I think we will continue to get together from time to time.
Finally back to the hospital via Maccas for Simon's dinner. Found myself nearly asleep on Simon's bed at 6pm. It has been a long week. Home visits arranged for Saturday and Sunday, I hope for a nice warm, peaceful weekend and three points for the Hammers.
Love Marian x